MTV 40th Anniversary Collage art: MTV©, various artists and Michelyn
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Let’s Rock and Roll”-John Lack, introducing MTV on air August 1,1981
Before there was YouTube, before we live streamed, my generation watched and listened to music on MTV.
Last month I saw my youngest niece for the first time in nearly a year. Our discussion wasn’t about perfume, it was about music. She shared her updated Spotify playlist with me and to my surprise there were at least five songs from the 1980s-90s. When I asked her how she knew them, her reply, “Mommy and Daddy watched them on MTV and so did you.”
MTV’s 40th Anniversary is August 1, 2021 and although the first videos were grainy (it was 1981 after all), MTV went on to revolutionize the music world and subsequently global pop culture. The target audience of young people 12-34 (Gen X and younger “Boomers”) embraced the new channel from the get go—and the music industry did as well, because anything on MTV was sure to be a hit. Looking good became as important as sounding good and musicians like Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince became style icons.
Video Killed the Radio Star photo courtesy of MTV©
DJays became VJays and the very first video ever to air was “Video Killed the Radio Star” from The Buggles on August 1, 1981. The only reason I knew this was that my friend lived in New Jersey and saw it; it wasn’t shown on New York TV.
My cousin installed cable back then and by early 1983 I had my MTV. The first video I remember watching was Annie Lenox and The Eurythmic “Sweet Dreams (are made of this)” in 1983. Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean was in heavy rotation that year as well.
Photo Collage by Clayton Ilolahia
I put together my top 15 favorite videos that I personally watched on MTV (which reflect my taste in music hence no 9 Inch Nails nor Nirvana).
1. Sweet Dreams (are made of this) -Annie Lenox and the Eurythmics (1983)
2. Billie Jean-Michael Jackson (1983)
3. Sledgehammer- Peter Gabriel (1983)
4. Walk This Way- Run MDC featuring Aerosmith (1986)
5. Vogue- Madonna (1989)
6. California Love- 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre (1996)
7. Every Breath You Take- Sting and The Police (1983)
8. No Money No Problems- Notorious B.I.G with Puff Daddy and Mase (1997)
9. You’ve Got To Fight For Your Right To Party- The Beastie Boys (1986)
10. Girls Just Want to Have Fun- Cindi Lauper (1983)
11. Faith- George Michael (1987)
12. Rhythm Nation- Janet Jackson (1989)
13. Addicted to Love-Robert Palmer (1986)
14. 1999- Prince (1982) but I saw it the following year
15. The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)-Missy Elliott (1997)
Reality TV killed the video star (really Ozzie, from Black Sabbath to The Osbournes? No words for The Jersey Shore).
For a great Scent Track for the MTV 40th Anniversary it’s a good time to revisit the 2021 Perfume Plume Award Winning 1980s-1990s Men’s Fragrances: Smells Like My Teen Spirit –Contributor Clayton Ilolahia of ÇaFleureBon, who is starting a new blog August 1, 2021.
Let’s celebrate MTV’s 40th anniversary! And, although most of us have AARP cards you are never to old to Rock and Roll.
Editor’s Note: I dressed each Halloween from 1987-1992 as a “Robert Palmer Girl.” I tried it again in 2005, but no one knew who I was.
Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief
Please comment about the early days of MTV, or your favorite MTV video, any memories?… because you never know